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Mass. foreclosure deeds down 60% in Nov.

The Lowell Sun

Updated:
01/04/2013 04:00:07 PM EST

BOSTON -- Foreclosure activity continues to decline in Massachusetts, according to a report released last week by The Warren Group.

Foreclosure deeds totaled 295 in November, down nearly 60 percent from the 731 recorded in the same month a year earlier, according to The Warren Group, a Boston-based publisher of real-estate and banking data.

November marks the sixth consecutive month that foreclosure deeds -- the last step in the foreclosure process -- have declined from the same month a year earlier.

Petitions to foreclose, the first step in the process, also declined. They totaled 983 in November, down 3 percent from the 1,015 petitions to foreclose from the same month a year earlier.

November marked the second time this year that foreclosure petitions have dropped on a year-over-year basis, The Warren Group found. It was also the fewest number of petitions filed since May 2011.

In a statement, Warren Group CEO Timothy Warren Jr. said the news continues "quite a positive year for the housing market," noting recent trends showing both sales and price increases for homes.

"We're beginning to see a brighter picture -- with less foreclosures and more home sales," Warren said in the statement. "An improving employment picture combined with government-backed programs are leading to fewer mortgage delinquencies."

Through November, a total of 7,158 foreclosure deeds have been completed in 2012, down almost 8 percent from 7,771 deeds recorded during the same period in 2011.

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However, the 16,317 foreclosure petitions filed through the first 11 months of 2012 marks a 40 percent increase from the same time in 2011, when 11,625 were filed.

November auction announcements totaled 381, a 72 percent plunge from the 1,356 scheduled in November 2011. Year-to-date auction announcements are down 20 percent, to 12,665.

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